Instead of posting the plain text from the latest Metro survey of bus and rail passengers, we decided to give the numbers a graphical twist. As for the results, they’re pretty much in line with previous surveys. More info on how the survey was conducted below.
How the surveys are done
Every year, Metro conducts a survey aboard their buses and trains. This is how we take “the pulse” of our riders. We send surveyors onto a sample of enough bus lines to account for 98% of our weekday passenger boardings.
This is what the physical survey looks like.
Surveyors in orange vests ride that randomly selected bus or train and hand out paper surveys to every person who boards the bus (see figure A?). The survey is printed in English and Spanish, and includes an opportunity to complete the survey in seven other languages online.
About half of the riders pass back their surveys completed, totaling between 15,000 and 20,000 surveys each year. All this data is input by hand and compiled into a data file so that we can see feedback from riders that is statistically sound.
We use this data in many different ways: to inform division managers of the on-time performance and cleanliness of the buses, customer satisfaction with service, demographic information for research and media requests, to name a few.
The questions change a little bit each year, but most of the questions stay the same, so that we can observe trends over time. We created this infographic using all of that data generated from riders like you! Thanks for telling us what you think. We hope this helps explain all that information we’ve been collecting.
–posted by Marie Sullivan and Jeff Boberg
I don’t think the BRU will be too happy to find out trains are far more effective at attracting discretionary riders (at least, that’s how I interpret the car availability and income numbers). Of course, maybe it will just fuel their fire that trains are classist, racist and discriminatory in every way possible.
Thanks Steve! The switching back between 2012, 10 year average and trendlines had to do with how much of a change there was over time, or what data was available. For car availability in 2012, bus riders were at 18% and train riders were at 37%. Safety and Cleanliness stayed pretty stable over time.
Nicely done with the design. I’d love to see the 2012 results (rather than a 10 year average) for car availability, cleanliness, and safely. It seems strange to suddenly switch from current results to averages, when so much has changed (new lines on rail, bus service changes, different housing patterns) in the last 10 years. I’d like to see those numbers currently.